Schumer, Gillibrand: Flood Of Unprocessed Claims Reviews Must Be Solved Now & No Pending Cases Should Be Closed Until Policyholder Confirms They Are Not Participating

Statement

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand revealed today that, only 700 cases submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Superstorm Sandy National Flood Insurance Program Claims Review Process have been closed, representing less than 5 percent of the total claims that have been submitted for re-review. Just as troubling, says Schumer and Gillibrand, is the fact that more than half of the 17,000 submitted cases to be reviewed by FEMA have been in the program for more than 90 days, and more than a third of the claims have been in the program and gone unresolved for more than 120 days. In a letter to FEMA, Schumer and Gillibrand today said that they are deeply disturbed by this information because FEMA had initially said that those who entered the Claims Review Process would receive a resolution of their claim within 90 days. The Senators today urged FEMA to dedicate adequate attention, resources and staff to address these delays and rectify what is clearly an example of the agency overpromising and under-delivering.

"We know from brutal experience that the flood insurance program was broken and denied countless Sandy victims timely and just payments on their claims. This is a travesty that FEMA promised to rectify with its Flood Insurance Program Claims Review Process, but the bottom line is that it is failing miserably to promptly and fairly review and pay many thousands of unjustly denied policyholders' claims," said Senator Schumer. "FEMA has reviewed and closed a paltry 5% submitted claims. This is maddening -- and not acceptable, which is why I am demanding that FEMA address these issues, eliminate the backlog and work closely with policyholders until not one case is left in the docket.

"Moreover, it's not fair for FEMA to close a policyholder's pending case if the individual is not heard from over a 2-week period. FEMA should be more proactive and flexible, and not close any case without affirmatively confirming with the claimant that they are not participating in the process," added Schumer.

"It is unacceptable that three years after Superstorm Sandy tore through our communities, and months after it came to light that homeowners were underpaid by FEMA based on fraudulently altered engineering reports, New Yorkers continue to face a slow, burdensome, and backlogged process to have their flood insurance claims reviewed," said Senator Gillibrand. "FEMA must do better so that New Yorkers who have been forced to endure this endless red tape since Superstorm Sandy and are still struggling to rebuild can begin to put their lives back together."

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